Facebook launches fundraising campaign to fight Ebola
Howard Lake | 7 November 2014 | News
Facebook is responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa by launching a fundraising campaign, inviting its users to donate to International Medical Corps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Save the Children.
Over the next week, users will see a message at the top of their News Feed with an option to donate. Donations are handled by Facebook’s nonprofit Donate function.
“All of the money raised will go directly to the charities working on the ground”, the company states.
Facebook’s Fight Ebola appeal appears in users’ news feeds
Facebook’s Fight Ebola appeal supports three charities
The donate function also includes the suggestion to the donor that they share the fact that they have donated with their friends to encourage further donations.
Health education
The Facebook Fight Ebola fundraising appeal is one of three initiatives being launched by the company.
It is collaborating with UNICEF to show information on Ebola symptoms and treatment to people in affected and neighbouring regions on Facebook. The messages from UNICEF will appear in the News Feed in the appropriate local language, and focus on Ebola detection, prevention and treatment.
Facebook’s Fight Ebola campaign includes health messages from UNICEF targeted to people in affected regions.
Voice and data services for aid workers
The company is also working with NetHope, a consortium of 41 leading international NGOs, to provide voice and data communications services to medical and aid workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is donating 100 mobile satellite communication terminals to enable this.
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Zuckerbergs’ donation
Last month Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan made personal donations of $25m to the CDC Foundation to help in the fight against Ebola. These three new services and donations from the company are in addition to this.
Here is his announcement on Facebook of the company’s latest donations:
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.